Crackdown
I'm back, after a long hiatus. And you know what, I'm not even going to try to explain. Fuck it.
I've been tearing through Crackdown for the past week, and for the most part, I like it. Let's dispel the idea right up front that Crackdown is nothing more than a Halo 3 Beta delivery mechanism. The game itself is solid, with nice presentation and plenty of action. On top of that, I could care less about playing the Halo 3 beta. So have no doubt, gentile reader, my intentions are pure as new-fallen snow.
I think Crackdown is going to be one of those games that you either get it and you have a ball, or you miss the point entirely. If you think it's a Grand Theft Auto III clone, you are well on your way to missing it. While the similarities abound, in the end, the two game play very differently. At it's core, GTA was a driving game. At first glance, Crackdown appears to be a driving game as well, but after your character powers up a bit you begin to realize that the core mechanic is really much more of a vertical, platformer-type of game. You will soon find yourself bounding from rooftop to rooftop with Matrix-like agility. Once the game started to head in that direction, I pretty much lost all interest in the cars that populate the vast sandbox city.
That being said, I'm probably having as much fun trying to collect all of the agility orbs (usually perched in hard-to-reach locations on the very tops of building) as I am playing the main storyline of taking down the three crime syndicates that plague the city. As your hero's powers grow, you can complete even more amazing feats of strength and agility. At one point, I couldn't find the offramp into the city, so I got out of my car, picked it up, and threw it off of the elevated highway onto the suburban streets below. Then I jumped down, flipped the vehicle back onto its tires, and sped off.
While the mechnaics are fun, the game definately could have used a little more structure. There are basically 21 crime bosses scattered through the city that you must eliminate, and then you're done. There are some vehicle races and foot races across the tops the building as additional diversions, but truem scripted story missions are lacking. Even with these shortcomings, it remains a well done game, and big enough that I don't feel bad shelling out the cash for it. It's definately worth at least trying the demo on Xbox Live marketplace if you're not sure.
I also picked up Fable. I had played it once a while back on the PC, but I found the controls sloppy and crude, and I just couldn't get into it. On the console it's a blast, and I've been plowing through it a few hours each night. I won't talk much about it, because I realize that it's old news, but I will say that I'm now seriously excited to see what Fable 2 has to offer.
PODCAST WATCH
If you have any interest in table-top gaming or the RPG industry in general, check out this interview on Fear the Boot. Fear the Boot is a great podcast on pen-and-paper RPGs, and now they are starting a new interview series with industry luminaires from both the table-top and video game industries. They started the series with Ryan Dancey, who is a pretty interesting cat to listen to. This guy basically brokered the deal for WotC to buy TSR, and also had a formative hand in the creation to the d20 Open Gaming License. He has years of industry experience, and tons of interesting demographics on gamers in general, and I found what he had to say facinating. Check it out.
P.S. It looks like they just posted the second interview in the series, this time with Mike West of Lionhead Studios. It's like the knew I needed something to tie into bringing up Fable this many years late.
I've been tearing through Crackdown for the past week, and for the most part, I like it. Let's dispel the idea right up front that Crackdown is nothing more than a Halo 3 Beta delivery mechanism. The game itself is solid, with nice presentation and plenty of action. On top of that, I could care less about playing the Halo 3 beta. So have no doubt, gentile reader, my intentions are pure as new-fallen snow.
I think Crackdown is going to be one of those games that you either get it and you have a ball, or you miss the point entirely. If you think it's a Grand Theft Auto III clone, you are well on your way to missing it. While the similarities abound, in the end, the two game play very differently. At it's core, GTA was a driving game. At first glance, Crackdown appears to be a driving game as well, but after your character powers up a bit you begin to realize that the core mechanic is really much more of a vertical, platformer-type of game. You will soon find yourself bounding from rooftop to rooftop with Matrix-like agility. Once the game started to head in that direction, I pretty much lost all interest in the cars that populate the vast sandbox city.
That being said, I'm probably having as much fun trying to collect all of the agility orbs (usually perched in hard-to-reach locations on the very tops of building) as I am playing the main storyline of taking down the three crime syndicates that plague the city. As your hero's powers grow, you can complete even more amazing feats of strength and agility. At one point, I couldn't find the offramp into the city, so I got out of my car, picked it up, and threw it off of the elevated highway onto the suburban streets below. Then I jumped down, flipped the vehicle back onto its tires, and sped off.
While the mechnaics are fun, the game definately could have used a little more structure. There are basically 21 crime bosses scattered through the city that you must eliminate, and then you're done. There are some vehicle races and foot races across the tops the building as additional diversions, but truem scripted story missions are lacking. Even with these shortcomings, it remains a well done game, and big enough that I don't feel bad shelling out the cash for it. It's definately worth at least trying the demo on Xbox Live marketplace if you're not sure.
I also picked up Fable. I had played it once a while back on the PC, but I found the controls sloppy and crude, and I just couldn't get into it. On the console it's a blast, and I've been plowing through it a few hours each night. I won't talk much about it, because I realize that it's old news, but I will say that I'm now seriously excited to see what Fable 2 has to offer.
PODCAST WATCH
If you have any interest in table-top gaming or the RPG industry in general, check out this interview on Fear the Boot. Fear the Boot is a great podcast on pen-and-paper RPGs, and now they are starting a new interview series with industry luminaires from both the table-top and video game industries. They started the series with Ryan Dancey, who is a pretty interesting cat to listen to. This guy basically brokered the deal for WotC to buy TSR, and also had a formative hand in the creation to the d20 Open Gaming License. He has years of industry experience, and tons of interesting demographics on gamers in general, and I found what he had to say facinating. Check it out.
P.S. It looks like they just posted the second interview in the series, this time with Mike West of Lionhead Studios. It's like the knew I needed something to tie into bringing up Fable this many years late.
Labels: podcasts, video games, XBOX
